The Committee says the hearing is to “honor the heroes of Extortion 17.” But the families of those heroes have a very different interest in that hearing. They are not going to the hearing to listen to empty platitudes about the wrongful death of their loved one’s…

Billy Vaughn, Aaron’s father, released an explosive book titled Betrayed about his son and the circumstances surrounding the death of his son on 6 August, 2011 in Afghanistan. The mission was code named “Lefty Grove” and the CH47 was call sign Extortion 17.

The tragic event marks the single largest loss of life in Navy SEAL and Special Forces history, and it was allowed to happen as a direct result of Administration policies, a lack of mission readiness, and suicidal ROE (Rules of Engagement) which adds considerable threat to our brave young men and women ordered into harm’s way.

A list of initial questions was delivered to committee members more than 24 hours ahead of the hearing. Despite a history of do-nothing dog and pony shows by the Issa controlled committee, on matters like Benghazi, the SEAL families intend to do whatever it takes to get answers.

Because this committee is on Oversight of National Security, members of the committee must accept calls from Americans all over the country and Billy and Karen Vaughn have asked for everyone to make those calls in an effort to assure that these families will get answers to their questions.

Representative

Phone

Fax

Representative Jason Chaffetz

202-225-7751

202-225-5629

Representative Cynthia Lummis

202-225-2311

202-225-3057

Representative John J. Duncan, Jr.

202-225-5435

202-225-6440

Representative John L. Mica

202-225-4035

202-226-0821

Representative Justin Amash

202-225-3831

202-225-5144

Representative Kerry Bentivolio

202-225-8171

202-225-2667

Representative Paul A. Gosar

202-225-2315

202-226-9739

Representative Rob Woodall

202-225-4272

202-225-4696

Representative Trey Gowdy

202-225-6030

202-226-1177

These Representatives need to hear from the American people or this hearing will become just another “Benghazi” effort to sweep Administration failings under the political carpet.

This is NOT a partisan issue. It is not just important to these SEAL families. The story of betrayal of our armed forces is critical to every military family, especially all who have loved ones in harm’s way. We still have soldiers dying under insane Administration policies and they will continue to needlessly die until this matter is fully addressed and people are held accountable.

At 10:00 am ET February 27, 2014… after two and a half years of waiting for answers, SEAL families will sit in a Congressional hearing asking questions. Please help make sure that those questions are asked and answered.

The future of freedom and liberty in America is no more secure than our nation’s defenders of freedom and liberty.

Don’t sit this one out! If you support our brave troops, now is the time to stand with them!

State Department Names Groups Behind Benghazi Strike

Published January 10, 2014

FoxNews.com

The State Department on Friday for the first time blamed specific groups and militants for the 2012 Benghazi attack, designating them as terrorists — a move that further undermines initial claims the attack was spontaneous.

The department announced that it was labeling Ansar al-Sharia in Benghazi and Ansar al-Sharia in Darnah as terror organizations, in part over their role in the Benghazi attack. It applied the same label to Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia, over a separate attack on Americans in Tunis.

The State Department also labeled as terrorists Sufian bin Qumu, head of the Darnah branch and a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, and Ahmed Abu Khattalah, head of the Benghazi branch.

Fox News previously reported that the two were suspected of playing a role in the attack. And despite State Department claims that Al Qaeda leadership was not involved and a recent news report echoing that assessment, Fox News has learned that bin Qumu has Al Qaeda ties.

According to his Guantanamo file, he has historic ties to the Al Qaeda network, including training at one point at “Usama bin Laden’s Torkham camp.”

The State Department, in its announcement Friday, specifically discussed allegations against the Ansar al-Sharia branches.

“Ansar al-Shari’a in Benghazi and Ansar al-Shari’a in Darnah have been involved in terrorist attacks against civilian targets, frequent assassinations, and attempted assassinations of security officials and political actors in eastern Libya, and the September 11, 2012 attacks against the U.S. Special Mission and Annex in Benghazi, Libya,” the department said. “Members of both organizations continue to pose a threat to U.S. interests in Libya.”

Shortly after the attack, administration officials indicated it was related to protests over an anti-Islam film that were raging elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East, describing it as spontaneous. They have since backed off that explanation, though have not ruled out the film as having played some role. Many lawmakers, though, have claimed the film was not a factor and the attack was planned by terrorists.

The department on Friday cited Khattalah and bin Qumu over their leadership roles in the al-Sharia organizations. Khattalah, though, told Fox News in October 2012 that while he was at the U.S. consulate that night, he was not responsible for the attack. He claimed he was helping Libyan security workers defending the compound.

The new terror designation bars anyone from providing or trying to provide “material support or resources” to those organizations and individuals, and freezes any assets they have in the U.S. The State Department announced that it has also updated its Rewards for Justice website to include a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of anyone involved in the Benghazi attack.

The department had faced criticism for not including that reward on the website, though officials claimed reward offers had nevertheless been made.

Four Americans died in the 2012 attack, and so far nobody has been brought to justice in connection with the killings.

“The U.S. government is committed to taking all appropriate actions against the organizations and individuals responsible for the attacks against the U.S. diplomatic facilities in Libya and Tunisia,” the State Department said, also referring to a 2012 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tunis.

People deal with loss in different ways. Some clam up, some weep then move on and other, make movies about it. I know in making this film it helps his brother and those that knew him. I wish every highs cool kid would be able to see this film and Im sadden that he has to even fight to ask for money to make the film. What happened to America’s patriotism?

This is a trailer film of a movie a brother is making about his Marine that he lost. You see the emotion of other Marines that knew “Sgt. Dan Patron was an explosive ordnance disposal technician who died during a 2011 deployment to Helmand province in Afghanistan. He was assigned to 8th Engineer Support Battalion, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was 26-years-old.” See his website here and make a donation to help him out. Also, check out the Marine Times website & their story on him as well. The warriors you see here are exactly the heroes the USMC is sending packing. Time for a C-Gar

In one of the most disgusting shows of political grandstanding over the shutdown of government services, President Obama has chosen to shut down open air, minimally maintained war memorials including the WWII War Memorial in Washington D.C. and Arlington Cemetery.

It should not be surprising that President Obama shows so little respect for our WWII veterans and our fallen warriors buried at Arlington Cemetery.

President Obama has a long history of association with some particularly anti-American figures, beginning with Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Reverend Wright was Obama’s pastor for over twenty years. Reverend Wright is the same man who argued that America deserved the 9/11 terror attacks and expressed his belief that God should damn America.

He also had a friendship with Bill Ayres of the Weather Underground whose goal was to create a clandestine revolutionary party for the overthrow of the US government and even perpetrated bombings of government buildings in the 1970’s.

Even more telling, are Obama’s own anti-American actions including the infamous “apology tour” that he embarked upon in 2010 which consisted of apologies and criticisms of America in speeches in France, England, Turkey and Cairo, at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and the United Nations in New York City.

President Obama spent the first part of his presidency apologizing for America and, by association, apologizing for our Veterans. Now, he is just showing them one more level of disrespect by attempting to deny them the right to visit the memorials they paid for through personal sacrifices for our great Nation.

Maj. James Weirick’s removal from his job as staff judge advocate on Sept. 26 centered on an email Weirick, left, sent to Peter Delorier, a former civilian legal adviser to Commandant Gen. Jim Amos.

The Marine Corps has removed from his job a staff judge advocate who publicly accused Commandant Gen. Jim Amos of unlawful command influence in the high-profile cases against eight Marines prosecuted in connection with a war-zone video of scout snipers urinating on enemy corpses.

Maj. James Weirick was also placed under a Marine Corps Protective Order and asked to turn in his personal weapons and submit to a voluntary psychiatric evaluation.

Retired Marine Col. Jane Siegel, Weirick’s attorney, said he had been removed for cause from his post at Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va., following allegations of harassment via email.

A spokesman for Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Col. Sean Gibson, confirmed that Weirick had been removed for cause and an MPO had been issued. Gibson said it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Siegel said the complaint centered on an email Weirick sent to Peter Delorier, one of Amos’ former civilian legal advisers. In the Sept. 21 email, reviewed by Marine Corps Times, Weirick pleads with Delorier, who now works at Camp Lejeune, N.C., to “come clean” about his role in the alleged manipulation of justice by the commandant’s office. Continue reading →

I wonder if we dig into this attack would we find that COIN and ROE are the real reasons for the security lapses.
Twana

___________________________

Reuters – Major General Mark Gurganus (L), commander of RC Southwest, seen with Leon Panetta in 2012, is one of the two generals to be fired for negligence, failing to adequately protect a giant base in southern Afghanistan.

The commandant of the Marine Corps on Monday took the extraordinary step of firing two generals for not adequately protecting a giant base in southern Afghanistan thatTaliban fighters stormed last year, resulting in the deaths of two Marines and the destruction of half a dozen U.S. fighter jets.It is the first time since the Vietnam War that a general, let alone two, has been sacked for negligence after a successful enemy attack. But the assault also was unprecedented:

Fifteen insurgents entered a NATO airfield and destroyed almost an entire squadron of Marine AV-8B Harrier jets, the largest single loss of allied materiel in the almost 12-year Afghan war.The commandant, Gen. James F. Amos, said the two generals did not deploy enough troops to guard the base and take other measures to prepare for a ground attack by the Taliban. The two, Maj. Gen. Charles M. Gurganus, the top Marine commander in southern Afghanistan at the time, and Maj. Gen. Gregg A. Sturdevant, the senior Marine aviation officer in the area, “failed to exercise the level of judgment expected of commanders of their rank,” Amos said.

“It was unrealistic to think that a determined enemy would not be able to penetrate the perimeter fence,” Amos said.

The incident brings into stark relief the unique challenges of waging war in Afghanistan. The withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops over the past two years has forced commanders to triage, sometimes leading them to thin out defenses. The U.S. military also has been forced to rely on other nations’ troops, who often are not as well trained or equipped, to safeguard American personnel and supplies.

The attack occurred at Camp Bastion, a British-run NATO air base in Helmand province that adjoins Camp Leatherneck, a vast U.S. facility that serves as the NATO headquarters for southwestern Afghanistan. Because Leatherneck does not have a runway, the Marines use Bastion as their principal air hub in the country. Several hundred Marines live and work on the British side, and dozens of U.S. helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are parked there.

The British are responsible for guarding Bastion, which is ringed by a chain-link fence, triple coils of razor wire and watchtowers from which sentries can scan the horizon for any potential attackers. British commanders had assigned the task of manning the towers to troops from Tonga, which has sent 55 soldiers to Afghanistan.

On the night of the attack, the Tongans left unmanned the watchtower nearest to the Taliban breach, according to an investigation by the U.S. Central Command.

Other aspects of the U.S.-British security plan were “sub-optimal,” the investigation found, with no single officer in charge of security for both Bastion and Leatherneck. The security arrangement created command-and-control relationships “contrary to the war-fighting principles of simplicity,” Amos wrote in a memo accepting the investigation.

Troop reductions also affected security measures. When Gurganus took command in 2011, about 17,000 U.S. troops were in his area of operations. By the time of the attack, in September 2012, the American contingent had dropped to 7,400 because of troop-withdrawal requirements imposed by President Obama.

Quotes

"Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your HONOR."
~ Vietnam Pilot

"In combat, honor is obtained by those who do what must be done, not what is allowed by those who refuse to fight or die for their own cause...my extremes pump fear into the enemy for generations come, your extremes cause warriors to bow in the presence of the unworthy, presenting weakness and opportunity ... well, I bow to no man"
~ Antonio Cezar Vega